Inking device



Sept. 10,1935. c. L. H. SUPLIGEAU ElAL 2,013,312 1 INKING DEVICE Filed Oct. 12, 1933 [22 fen ions:

Patented Sept. 10, 1935 I i "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,013,812 I mxmo DEVICE Charles Leon Hippolyte Supligeau, Malakoii, and

Robert Richard Jean Guyot, Chatillou sous Bazneux, France v Application October 12, 1933, Serial No. 693,356

In lgium April 4, 1933 6 Claims. (01. 91-6 Our invention relates to methods and 'appara- Organs for conveying the ink onto the printing tus for coating sheets of paper or other flat surelement carrying cylinder; and faces with ink. It concerns more especially, but Organs for conveying the paper to the desired not exclusively, methods and apparatus for coatplace after said paper has been provided with '5 ing at least some portions of sheets of paper with pyin n she rgans that av u t been carbon copying ink, I stated can be of any suitable structure and ar- The object of our invention is to provide a rangement. method and apparatus of the type above referred Furthermore, if it is desired to make use, for to which are better adapted to meet the require obtaining copying zones, of ink that is solid in 10 ments of actual practice, the cold state and liquid when warmed, such as 1 The essential characteristic of the method acthat utilized in the manufacture of carbon pacording to our invention consists in making use, per, we preferably arrange the printing machine for applying the ink, for instance only-on certain above described in such manner that the printportions of a sheet of paper, of a printing process, ing element carrying cylinder and also all the 5 that is to say of a process involving the use of a organs that are located before said cylinder, l5 printing element for applying the ink onto the therefore the ink with which they are in contact,

paper, and in causing said printing element to should be at a temperature higher than that of move with respect to the paper, in such manner the guiding cylinder.

that there is produced a sliding displacement be- 2 This result can be readily obtained, for intween the portions of these elements that are in stance in the known manner as follows:

contact, for at least a part of the time during On the one hand means'are provided for heat which ink is applied onto the paper. ing theinking material from the tank as far at The essential characteristic of the apparatus leashe e generatrix along Which the d g according to our invention consists, while providcylind r a d t Printing element y ng cyling a printing element, preferably fitted on a inder are tangent to each other, in such man-25 printing element carrying cylinder, and means ner'that printing may take place at a, suitabl for distributing ink over said printing element, temperature, account being taken of the nature as usually devised in printing devices, in so arof the ink, of the paper, of the number of sheets ranging these devices that the printing element to be printed, of the colour of the sheets, etc.

moves at a speed such that there is produced a On the other hand we provide means for cool- 30 sliding displacement between said printing eleing the upper face of the sheet as soon as the mentt-and the paper while ink is being applied atter has been coated with ink so as to form t said paper; copying areas, or a short time after this coating,

Other characteristics of our invention will apffl prevent the inkfmm P g throu hpear from the following detafled description out the paper. 35 thereof, givenmerely by way of example. AS the printing element ar ying cylinder We will first consider the case in which it is advantflgewsly made in thelfouowing desired to devise a machine for obtaining, ner:

through an intaglio printing process, sheets pro-- A pp plate, Whichis to f m th printing I vided on their lower surfaces with copyingporelement, is engraved; preferably in the same tions. manner as in the heliogravure process, or again We advantageously make use of a printing by knurling, account being taken as it will be machine utilizing paper, either in the f r f hereinafter explained, of the dimensions of the sheets or in the form of spools, and of a coni areas be F 0n the lower face. ventional design, with the exception of some of of h sheet- This engravmg is'to P c (inits elements. These elements are the printing eleprintmg elemqnt a network design any ment carrying cylinder, eventually the counter suitable kind, the lines ofsaid network extendcylinder that cooperates with said cylinder, and for mstancg in two directions at right angles to each other. the means. for ng Said cylmder a said- Anyway the engraving 'of'the printing element 50 counter-cylmder. i is made in such manner as to provide:

according to our nv the printing On the one hand fine partitions the top of chine must further include: which is flush with the plane forming the limiting Means for feeding paper to the point where surface of the smooth or unengraved portions of ink is applied onto said paper; f the copper plate, and,

On the other hand small cells forming an intaglio structure with respect to said printing plate.

Although any network of the type above stated can be employed according to our invention, we

have found that it is advantageous to have recourse to. 'a network consisting essentially of a juxtaposition of very fine grooves, parallel to one another and to the directrices of the cylindrical surface the shape of which the printing element is to assume, these grooves being preferably partly filled from place to place by partitions adapted to prevent ink from flowing too easily along the grooves when the scraping member slides in contact with the printing element.

Such a network can be obtained in the following manner:

A first series of parallel lines is reserved on the surface of the copper plate that is to form the printing element, for instance in the same manner as for any etching, in such manner as to protect them very strongly against subsequent attack by acids, said lines being directed along the directrices of the cylindrical surface above referred to, use being for instance made, for this purpose of a linear network.

A second series of parallel lines is then reserved, but less strongly, said lines being, for instance, spaced at the same interval as the first mentioned lines, and being so disposed as to intersect the first mentioned lines (for instance at right angles).

Finally the plate thus prepared is attacked, for instance by means of a suitable acid, so that the first mentioned lines are not at all attacked and the second mentioned lines are slightly atcan be applied against the lateral surface of a cylinder and fixed thereto by means of clips, clamps, or the like, adapted to ensure a good con tact between the printing element and said cylinder, thestructure thus obtained forming a print-' ing element carrying cylinder ready to be utilized.

We may also, according to our invention, instead of attaching a copper plate forming a printing element to a cylinder so as to form a printing element carrying cylinder, provide a copper envelope surroundingsaid cylinder entirely, and directly engrave the design or designs that it is desired to obtain in said envelope. We may for instance obtain said copper envelope, in a direct and simple manner, through electroplating.

against said printing element carrying cylinder and in front of the printing generatrix, said scraper bearing of course only against the ridges of the lines of the engraved design and scraping ink, before each printing operation from the smooth areas of the printing element that correspond to the zones of the lower face of the sheet that must not be coated with copying ink. In this way ink is allowed to remain only in the small cells of the'engraved network that have A scraper, preferably movable, is disposed,

been above referred to, the amount of ink being of course determined by the shape and depth of said cells, said shape and depth having been chosen in accordance with the fluidity of the ink that is utilized, the nature of the paper, the

process of reproduction that is applied, etc., the relation between these factors and the shape and depth of the cells being easily found by experiments.

Concerning now the means for driving the printing element carrying cylinder, they are advantageously so devised that the peripheral speed of said element is different from the speed of unwinding of the paper.

Said peripheral speed may be given at will a value either higher or lower than that of said speed of unwinding of the paper, the difference between said speeds ranging for instance between 10 and Of course the printing element carrying cylinder may be driven through any suitable means, such for instance as gears, the ratio of which will be chosen suitably according to the circumstances. 1

Finally, we preferably make use of a countercylinder adapted to apply the paper against the printing element carrying cylinder, the pressure with which thepaper is applied against said printing element carrying cylinder being adjustable and so chosen as to avoid tearing of the paper.

Advantageously said counter-cylinder will be disposed in such manner that the paper may wind around it over a relatively large circular arc, ranging for instance between 180 and 240 degrees.

Said counter-cylinder can be driven through suitable organs, or it might be merely driven by the paper itself.

A preferred embodiment of a machine according to the present invention will be hereinafter 40 described with reference to the accompanying drawing, given merely by way of example, and in which:

The only figure is a diagrammatical view of a printing machine according to our invention.

As shown in this figure, the cylinder 6 that carries the printing element is partly immersed in a reservoir 1 containing the copying ink and which is suitably heated. A scraper 8 is adapted to cooperate with said printing element as above explained.

The paper, which is supported to be unwound from a spool 4, passes between rollers 5 and is applied against the surface of the printing element 6 by a roller 9 adapted to be displaced in the direction of the arrows and by a countercylinder Ill around which said paper passes. Said counter-cylinder I0 also serves to cool the paper. The paper, on leaving cylinder l0, passes to feed cylinder l2, which cooperates with roller ll. The paper is then cut at l5 so as to form the sheets, which are taken by rollers I3 and piled upon plate Id.

The chief characteristics of the device according to our invention is that the parts are so connected that the peripheral speed of cylinder is different from that of cylinder- 6, so that the paper slides along the surface of cylinder 6. For this purpose, we may, as shown in the drawing, provide gears 16 and I1 adapted to connect 7 together cylinders 6 and I2 respectively; the diameters of said gears being such that the peripheral speed of cylinder is higher or smaller than that of cylinder l2.

Whatever be the nature of the printing element and the means for printing the paper with copying ink. it will readily be understood that the portions of the printing element that are engraved or otherwise treated so as to be able to apply the copying ink onto the sheets of paper must be given shapes and dimensions in the direction parallel to the unwinding of the paper chosen by taking into account the relative displacement of the printing element carrying cylinder with respect to thepaper in the course of the contact of said elements with each other.

Thus, for instance, if a printing zone of rec-' tangular shape, two ofthe sides of which are parallel to the generatrices of the printing element carrying cylinder moves, during the time of contact of said zone with the paper, a. distance greater by 5 centimeters than the distance the paper has moved forward during the same interval of time, it willbe necessary to give said rectangular zone of the printing element a width greater by 5 centimeters than that of the printed zone to be obtainedon the paper;

of course, inversehr, if the peripheral speed er the printing element carrying cylinder is lower than the speed of travel of the paper, the printing zones must be given widths-smaller than those of the copying zones to be obtained on the paper.

It willbe obviously possible, in each particular case and whatever the shape of the copying surfaces may be, to determine, eventually, by giving the sliding displacement a given value, the outline to give to the member. r

' Whatever be the relative displacement of the printing member and of the paper, the friction produced between these two elements ensures a better adhesion of the copying layer owing to the crushing to which said layer is subjected while said relative displacement is taking place, the Paper being applied carrying cylinder.

our invention results from the fact that the crushing of the copying layer gives the latter a smoother surface than if no sliding displacement had taken place, which will prevent traces corresponding to the network of the printing element, if said element is provided with a network, from being visible on the cop ing zone, and ensures, in a general manner, a more homogeneous distribution ofthe ink. l

The proces and apparatus that have just been described make it possible to obtain, in a simple and reliable manner, sheets provided on the lower face with copying areas of any desired shape.

It may be suflicient to treat, as it has been above explained, sheets of paper already printed on the upper face, by means of any suitableprinting machine,so as to present characters or signs of any desired nature, the treatment above referred to consisting in coating the lower face of the sheets, over predetermined areas of any desired shape, with copying ink.

Itisalso possihletomakeuseofblanksheets and to perform siinultan usly (that is to say by means of, a single printing machine of suitable 'type) the following operations:

(a) The printing, on the upper face of the ngraved zones of the printing against the printing element Another advantage of the proces according to the paper is provided with a margin, with a 5 manual or automatic delivery, is in reams, or is unwound from continuous spools.- In the latter case all the cylinders are parallel 'to one another; the paper is first provided, at least partly, on one or both faces, with texts, 1 characters, figures, etc., through any suitable printing process; said paper is then provided with the copying areas as above explaine Of course our invention is entirely applicablewith some modifications to the process above de- 15 scribed by way of example. For instance the sliding displacement between the printing ele- -ment and the paper or equipment elementmight take place only during'a part of the time for which said elements are in contact, for instance 2 in cases of the printing element carrying cylinder being provided with driving means that impart an irregular or discontinuous movement thereto.

It should alsobe well understood that the essential feature of our invention, that is to say 2 the relative sliding-displacement of the printing element and of the paper or the equivalent can quite as well be applied with printing processes other than the intaglio printing process, for instance with processes in which the printing ele- 30 ment is in relief, as in typography for instance. Our invention also appliesto the case in which the printing element is replaced by a stencil and even to the case in which ink would be. applied by means of a cylinder, of india-rubber or a 35 similar material, such as those that are made use of in the offset method. Our invention is also applicable to the case in which the printing is performed by means of flat printing elements. 40

It is also applicable to the case in which it is desired to manufacture carbon paper coated with copying matter over its whole surface with eventually the exception of small'zones for facilitatlng its handling. In this particular case it will be possible, eventually, to dispense with the counter-cylinder and to provide a certain surface of contact between the paper and the printing element. v

While we have described what we deemto be practical and eflicient embodiments of our invention, it should be well understood that we do not wish to be limited theretoas there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition,

, and form of the parts without departing from the principle of our invention as comprehended the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is: a

1. Method of applying carbon copying ink to limited parts only of paper, which comprises applying such ink to a printing element having a pattern thereon of a size different from the size of the coated part to be produced,'bringing the patterned part of the printing element into con:- tact with the paper, and, during such contact, 5 causing relative motion between the paper and'the printing element of such proportions as to cause the printing element to produce on the paper a coated part of the desired 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said patterned part of the printing member has an intaglio surface.

3. A method-of applying carbon copyin ink on limited parts only of paper, which comprises spreading such ink on portions only of the periphery o! a printing cylinder, such portions being of a size different from the size of the coated part to be produced, passing the paper over the inked portion of the periphery'of such cylinder in a direction at right angles to the axis ofthe cylinder, and causing relative sliding movement between the paper and the periphery of the cylinder during such contact of such proportions as and said cylinder sliding during only a part of the period of contact between the paper and the cylinder.

5. In a method according to claim .1, in which said paper and said printing element are both moving, said printing element moving at a greater speed than said paper.

6. In a method'according to claim 1, in which said paper and said printing element are both moving, said paper moving at a greater speed than said printing element.

CHARIES LEON HIPPOLYTE SUPLIGEAU. ROBERT RICHARD JEAN GUYOT. 

